3D Printing News and Innovation

3D Printing Philanthropy: KXX Rings by Michiel Cornelissen

We hope everyone is enjoying the World Cup, whether through tears or cheers. Here at the Shapeways Headquarters we’re doing our own celebrating in a few different ways. While we’re obviously Chrome casting the games, we’re also very excited about a campaign run by Shapeways designer Michiel Cornelissen. Michiel is an amazing product designer we’ve highlighted before in our Designer Spotlight series.

Michiel has made a product that’s not only fun, but philanthropic! The KXX ring (pronounced kah-shi-shi in Brazilian Portuguese) is a rattling ring, inspired by the Brazilian caxixi instrument. It can be used as fun, fashionable jewelry, or as an actual percussion instrument. Soccer fans – get them in your country’s colors! With the purchase of a KXX ring during the World Cup games Michiel is donating profits to social good projects in Brazil’s favelas.

The specific favela project benefitting from this sale is in Recife, one of the World Cup host cities. Michiel’s relatives have been running a non-profit called Darue Malungo there for decades; they do wonderful work teaching dance, music, and social and cultural development to underprivileged kids. Some of them have gone on to become world class dancers and artists, so the project really works (you can see them in one of their performances below).

Join the celebration and efforts, and tweet fun pictures to @Shapeways if you purchase one of these great rings!